Conservapedia:Administrator's Guide

If you are reading this for the first time, congratulations! You have joined a group of editors here to protect Conservapedia, and act as "stewards" of the project. Below are some guides that will make you more effective and a better example to editors in your job as a Sysop:

Terms explained

Administrators, also known as sysops, are editors with the ability and authority to enforce Conservapedia's rules and resolve disputes.

Bureaucrats are Administrators with the additional ability to change user rights.

Contents

Working with others

Some new users might simply misunderstand our policies and need some guidance. Not all initial efforts which violate policy are done out of opposition or indifference to project goals.

A sysops responsibility is to help users by providing guidance. If a user seems stubborn or indifferent, try shepherding or mentoring the user. The relationship between Sysop and Editor should not be adversarial. Do not compound the problem by being argumentative. You should interact peacefully and positively with users, direct newbies to the appropriate Guideline page or clause that deals with certain problems, and issue polite warnings as required. If necessary, you may impose editing restrictions, undo useless work, userfy inadequate articles, or try short blocks.

Civility

Conservapedia Administrators are expected to afford registered users the same standard of editing etiquette, decorum, and interaction you yourself, and the Conservapedia project as a whole, require and appreciate from others. You must be civil. No bullying. Violators of the CP Guidelines may face sanctions.

There is a difference between intelligent discourse, and attacking or being attacked for what someone may believe. Wikipedia condones bullying and mob rule, Conservapedia does not.

Incivility and personal attacks should be replaced with the {{personal remark removed}} template. As a last resort, and in the most extreme circumstances, the sysop or blocking editor may have to resort to a block.

Blocking

If you have determined a user should be blocked, there are multiple more factors to consider:

Should the user be blocked for a reason not based on the quality of his edits or legitimacy? (For example, a vulgar username.) Then make sure the checkbox titled: "Automatically block the last IP address used by this user..." is unchecked (it is checked by default) so that the user can create a new account.

If the user should be blocked based on his actions on the wiki, carefully consider how long the user should be blocked. If the user is a blatant vandal, generally 2 or 5 year blocks are handed out. If the user is merely edit warring or some similar offense, perhaps a shorter block (2 days, a few weeks, months?) might be more appropriate. Keep in mind that users and IP addresses can change - infinite blocks are therefore discouraged.

If you have run checkuser (which you should generally only do with probable cause) and determined the user has created sock-puppet accounts, the user should be blocked. Be wary that multiple distinct users might just be editing from a public location - for example a school, a coffee house or a library.

Furthermore, users with blocking rights must be very careful in the issuance of a block. Unwarranted blocks that may be undone clog the block log, and future Administrators may unfairly consider an established user as a troublemaker, when the real problem lies with an unjustifiable block made by an Administrator. When a blocking error occurs, it's best for everyone involved for the original blocking editor to undo the action so as to limit confusion. However, this is not always possible.

Deletion

Sysops should be careful not to delete other sysops talk page comments, including on their user pages.

Moving

To move a page, click the "move" tab on the upper pane. It should be directly to the right of the "delete" tab. Once you have clicked this button, you will see a page which enables you to move the content of one page to a page with a different title. Simply type the new title of the page in to the box entitled "To new title:", and give a short reason in the "Reason:" box. By default, the "move associated talk page" checkbox should be marked; this should always be marked. It's up to you whether or not you want to "watch" the page (this places it on your watchlist).

If a page already exists with the new name, you will be warned and asked if you want to delete that page. It is recommended that you answer "no" to this, and delete the page manually. The reason for this is that if you allow the software to delete the page, it will not delete the accompanying talk page, which means that the talk page of the article you are moving will not itself be moved. If you already know that there is no accompanying talk page, then answering "yes" will work.

Images

Please check the upload log frequently to protect any new images. This will in turn prevent any image vandalism.

(Images are usually not on anyone's watchlist except that of the person who uploaded them, and cannot be reverted if someone replaces the image. This makes protecting images more important than protecting articles or templates, both of which are more easily reverted and/or more likely noticed.)

Checkuser

Checkuser can trace the originating IP or proxy of vandals and sockpuppets. If the IP address check shows that the IP is being used by two usernames the person is likely a sockpuppet who is using the same computer connection to edit Conservapedia. The user will be blocked and if a mistake was made the error can be easily undone. Be sure to always act in good faith and not bite the newbies.

Siteadmin

Some administrators are granted the additional ability to lock and unlock the database (locking prevents all editing). This is known as siteadmin rights.

Oversight

Oversighters have the ability to permanently remove revisions from view. This is used to hide personally identifiable information that was posted inappropriately. Oversight can also be used to hide particularly harsh libel or personal attacks, or inappropriate language, such as obsenity. Oversight is a maintenance tool to protect privacy and Conservapedia's family friendly atmosphere, not a weapon to stifle criticism and active discussion.

Wheel warring

Keeping informed of new developments

An area of Conservapedia has been created for discussion of concerns within the Conservapedia community so Sysops can be informed of various developments. The area is located here: Conservapedia:Community Portal.